


To France

by yamakaza



Series: Plague Assassins [4]
Category: A Plague Tale: Innocence (Video Game), Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:08:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27565765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yamakaza/pseuds/yamakaza
Summary: The path to France leads to the horrors of what the plague is bringing to Italy and her people. Ezio and Claudia spend sibling time with each other.
Series: Plague Assassins [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1828657
Kudos: 2





	To France

Chapter 4  
North of Florence, Italy  
Day 2

Frederico and his small group of assassins headed towards France with hopes of saving everyone they came across there. For now, they were still in Italy as the border to France and Italy was about five to six days away from Florence. He was with two new assassins and one experienced assassin to make sure they completed their mission successfully. The three assassins were excited to complete their first mission but now only two days into travel they already knew what the survivors of the plague looked like and were shaken. The veteran assassin was stunned as he had seen war but he had never seen the devastation of the body's war on itself.

The group helped where they could and gathered information to be ready where they could when they got to France. The Inquisition was the main problem for the survivors and the victims of the plague alike but one thing was in every story. They were looking for children of the De Rune family by a captain of the Inquisition called by many names but mainly the Butcher. Frederico slowly began to realize this mission may not be as easy as they believed even the veteran was worrying.

The mission changed, the veteran told them that night, “As much as we are to help the innocent I do not believe that is our focus now. We have to find these De Rune children and find out what they know. We will escort them out of the country and then find out more about this Inquisition Butcher.”

The three assassins wished to do more but after seeing the survivors knew that they had to do this. The stories they were told sounded like the country was a lost cause and its citizens were going to harder to save. They had their mission and hopefully as start as to where to look and put an end to the plague. Frederico didn’t get much sleep and he was sure the other assassins didn’t rather despite being in one of their safe houses.

His mind was filled with questions of the plague, the De Rune, the Inquisition, the templars, and finally his family. How was Ezio doing? He was always a quick learner as he proved it by learning how to scale buildings with ease and in his street fights. He was sure his brother’s sense of humor could ease his worry but that was wishful thinking as he was sure Ezio would also be somber after witnessing what they did. Soon the sun rose, they had breakfast, and they were back on the road. Frederico wished this was not his first mission as every weeping mother holding their dying child he saw was his mother holding Petruccia.

It was the third day and second night of their travel when a brother of the French branch met them at their site. He was suffering from the plague and the veteran was ready to end his suffering until he mentioned the De Rune. It took some difficulty but the man managed to tell him he saw the siblings with two of their own. They were siblings not even supposed to be training yet but they were safe with them but that was half a year ago. He had seen them in the city with the university but he was busy trying to get the town’s people out when he saw a glimpse of a sister assassin and the De Rune sister sneaking to the university. He didn’t have time to help the De Rune sister as the Inquisition was coming after him as he did get the plague but he had to find the Brotherhood to pass the information on before his death. He did tell them that he heard rumors that the captain of the Inquisition and some unsavory intentions for the girl but he also heard she did a number on him during their encounter.

The veteran asked the brother if he was ready and he was, he wasn’t ready to die this soon in his life but he did his duty and he was sick. A quick death would be better than suffering from the plague as he already has. The man slid his blade into the other’s chest. It was quick and slightly peaceful. It was the first death Frederico had witnessed one of their own killed by their hands. It was another reminder to the recruits that this was not something that they were to be happy about never is. Granted this was the worst of the worst situations only a few would face in their lifetimes.

* * *

Day 3  
Mario’s Villa, Monteriggioni

Ezio was sent to his Uncle Mario’s Villa for his training with Claudia and Petruccio so they would be safe from the Templars. He was disappointed he couldn’t join Frederico on his mission but it was for the best as he had a lot of training to do to catch up with Frederico. Claudia was forced to learn how to run Uncle Mario’s estate that had seen better days but she begged Ezio to teach her what he was learning. While Uncle Mario had no issues with teaching his niece how to fight, their father wanted Claudia to stay out of the Assassins as much as he had wanted Ezio to. Petruccio seemed to benefit from being outside the large city that was their home in Florence as he was starting to regain strength and was able to play longer than he usually did.

That night the two middle children of the Auditore family spent their time running across rooftops and climbing buildings in a violent version of tag where they used knives and swords. Claudia had traded out her dress for a pair of pants Ezio had gotten for her during one of his missions to the city but now he was regretting it because she was getting faster at her movement skills and was giving him a run for his money. He was proud though he wanted to keep his siblings safe and protected but not in this way while like his father he wanted the pair to live a normal life he realized that was not going to happen now. Not after the attempt on the lives of men of the family, none of them would have a normal life. Petruccio still woke up screaming and crying from the memory of his almost death.

Ezio swore he would find those responsible and they would be his first kill of his Assassin career. He was so distracted by his thoughts he was almost stabbed by Claudia who snuck and rushed him from the side of the fort wall.

Claudia got his arm and she smirked at her victory, “Got you! What’s with you tonight? You’ve been distracted all evening, if you’re worried about Frederico you shouldn’t. He’s trained for this.”

“It’s not that,” Ezio sighed as he pressed a cloth to his wound. “It’s the attempted murder of our family. That man in the hood is bothering me, I want to find the man responsible and kill him.”

“Ezio I want to too but we have to be patient and find out the full plan of the man,” Claudia said sitting down on the wall. “I want him to suffer too but we can't get revenge if we're dead by rushing into this blind."

"You are correct. I just feel useless with Frederico off doing his first mission and we're here training.” He gave her a curiously confused look. "The full plan? Si...Uncle Mario believes the only plan was little more beyond ending the Auditore line. He says we're special, and that I would understand in time. As if we have the luxury of time now..." Ezio sat on the wall and rested his head in his hands, bending in half to rest his elbows on his thighs. He rubbed his tired eyes, sat up, and took a deep breath. "I can find the hooded man if he's still in Firenze but it's too dangerous to go back now."

"Of course, it was more than that brother, after what has been revealed to us it is obvious. That's why we need to train and learn fast. Father can handle their plans for now but with Frederico off on his mission in France father will only have us." Claudia looked out onto the field beyond the walls. "We almost lost everyone to that man. The hooded man should've been arrested for the false claims and attempted execution on our family."

"No." Ezio stood. "Father will have you. Once I am healed I'm going to Firenze to search for the Cat's Paw. Whoever he is, he's comfortable. He likely thinks he's gotten away with it..." Ezio smirked.

"Father will not! He doesn't want me in this but I will. Ezio you aren't alone in this I will help you where I can. With uncle Mario's town being rebuilt thanks to my bookkeeping I'm positive I can work my way into the brothels as their bookkeeper to gather information."

"Must you be inside the Brothel to work? I'm starting to think you like hanging around with the Putas."

"Yes, you remember what the girls say about themselves? Men speak freely around the scum that's below them. I won't be working as one of the girls. The ladies here have been building my trust with other city brothels to get me in the back for their bookkeeping. From there I can gain your information if you can prove to the girls you can be trusted."

He sighed, his own dear, beautiful little sister was sneaking into the backs of whore houses! He felt as though he'd failed to protect her. His mournful brown eyes studied her face, memorizing her just as she was. "Claudia..."

"Ezio, I lost my innocence of our old life when they dragged father and our brothers out of our home in front of mother and I." She put her hands on her hips. "I can't pretend nothing is beneath me anymore. You can't stop me from doing this. I want to kill that hooded man as much as you and I will do it with or without you."

"I'm more concerned with the Catsos they serve than you being influenced by the women... Even mother barely has any control over you. I don't need some Puto mistaking you for a common whore!" Ezio pinched the bridge of his nose. He was tired, injured, and now he had a headache. "I think I've lost just a little too much blood for today." He looked down at the fresh wound he'd been nursing. "Where is the Medico?"

"That's why I'm training, I'll just hit the Puto with my finance book or maybe even my blade if I have to," Claudia smirked as if she could take on any man that tried to violate her. "You wimp! I barely grazed you. Come here, it's too late to bother him. I’ve been learning some of Medico’s work so I know what we’re paying for."

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so sorry, I hit a writer's block and work at my job as been exhausting leaving me barely any energy to think up any ideas on where I wanted this to go as this was going off as this is going off the rails from the game but now as you see I found where I want this to go. With the help of my gf we got to the bits I wanted to get to and I'll hopefully will get the next chapters off without a hitch. My plan is to post once a month or whenever I hit 30+ hits. Please comment and kudos to let me know how I'm doing. I would love comments more so I can know what I need to work on but be nice!


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